Recreation submarine boat of boat-vehicle.



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Patented Dec. 3|, J. WILSON.

RECREATION SUBMARINE BOAT 0R BOAT VEHICLE.

3 Sheets S heei 1.

(Application filed Oct. 22, 1900. -Renewed June 17, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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" I BY IAT.TORNEY N4"). 690,25. Patented Dec, 3|, I901.

" J. WILSON.

REGBEATIONSUBMARINE BOAT 0R BOAT VEHICLE;

lpplicm icm filed Out. 22, 1900. Renewed June 17, 1901.) (No Model.) 3Sheets-sheaf 2.

m In' HI I Y BY 0% 6/2 020 S ATTORNEY m: Nonms vzyzas cu..,imo-umo..wAsumaYon. 11s,:

Patented Dec. 3!, I90L.

.1. WILSON. BEGREATIDN SUBMARINE BOAT 0R BOAT VEHICLE.

(Application filed Oct. 22, 1900. Renewed June 17, 1901.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

; I INVENTO v BY g S ATTORNEY WITNESSES UNITED STATES 'ATENT O FICE.

JOHN WILSON, OF PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY.

RECREATION SUBMARINE BOAT OR BOAT-VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming, part of Letters Patent No. 690,215, datedDecember 3 1901- Application filed October 22,1900. Renewed J'une 1'7I1901. Serial No. 64,929. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN WILSON, a citizen of the United States,residing in Perth Amboy, county of Middlesex, and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RecreationSubmarine Boats or Boat-Vehicles, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to the class of devices employed for amusementand recreation and usually found at popular summer resorts; and theobject of the invention is to provide a means whereby those whodesire itmay experience the novel sensation of diving in a water-tight submarineboat, making a trip under water, and coming to the surface again at thelanding-place.

In carrying out the invention it will be obvious that the details ofconstruction and operation may be varied almostindefinitely, and I donot limit myself to any special construction or means of control orpropulsion, the only essentials being awaterway deep enough to submergethe boat, a track of some kind laid therein, a boat or passenger-holdingvehicle mounted to move along said track and water-tight, so that it maynot leak or fill, and some means of propelling said boat or diving itfrom the place where the passengers come on board to where they arelanded. Obviously the track may be endless and the boat make a circuit,so that the passengers can get on and off at the same point, and thetrack may be elevated at this point, so that the deck of the boat risesabove thewater-level, this elevated portion of the track being connectedto the main portion thereof by inclines. The motive power may be on theboat, so that it becomes a locomotor, or it may be drawn by a cabledriven from astationary motor. The boat may be of almost any shape, butpreferably it will have the cigar-like form of the known submarine boat;but this is merely for the purpose of simulating the real submarinetorpedo-boat. The waterway may be also of any suitable form or contour.

In the accompanying drawings the device is represented in a simple form,the vehicle-' boat being mounted on a submerged endless track, whichrises by inclines at the landingplace. The boat or boat-vehicle ispropelled first in one direction and then in the other by areversing-cable along the track.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan of the device, showing the mechanismin the powerhouse. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section taken at theplane indicated by the line 00 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is substantially asection at 00 in Fig. 2, showing the landing-place in side elevation.These views are all on a small scale. Fig. 4 is a sectional view insubstantially the same plane as Fig. 2, but on a larger scale andillustrating the automatic stopping device; and Fig. 5 is a view of thesame as seen from the left in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal verticalsection of the boat on a relatively large scale. Fig. 7 is an undersideview of the main hatch, showing the fastening; and Fig. Sis a sectionalview of the same on the same scale as Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is an under sideview of the telescoping hatch. Fig. 10 is a plan view of the track atthe landingplace.

Referring to the drawings, a designates the waterway, which may be adeepoblong channel with a shallower central portion included within saidchannel. The only object of this construction is to reduce the quantityof water required for an artificial waterway. In this oblong channel islaid a track or railway b, which is elevated at the landing-place 0, sothat the boat 01 will be elevated at the landing-place sufiiciently tocause its upper surface or deck to emerge. The boat is drawn by a cablea along the track and the cable is driven from a stationary motor orengine.

The passengers having been taken on board through a hatchway f, thecable is set in motion. The boat dives down the incline until submergedand then moves around the circuit of the track and up again to thelanding-place from the other direction. The hatch is now opened and thepassengers landed. Other passengers are now taken on board and the boatmoves around the circuit of the track in the opposite direction to thelanding-place.

The details of the construction will now be described, premising thatthese may be varied or changed without departing from my inventiou.

In the power-house g is an engine or motor h, which may be, for example,a steam-enerence a telescoping hatch 7".

gine. This engine drives a Windlass-drum i, there being an intermediatereversing-gear j, whereby the engineer may reverse the direction ofrotation of said Windlass-drum. The ends of the cable 6 wind in oppositedirections on the drum 1', so that the cable can be driven in oppositedirections by merely'reversing the motion of the drum. The cable extendsabout suitable guide-sheaves to the track at the landing-place c andthence about guide-sheaves 7t" about the track between the rails. On theboat d, which has wheels m, which run on the track-rails, is aclutch-link 07, for securing the boat to the moving cable. The boatshould be pointed at both ends and be provided with seats for thepassengers, and it may have windows 0 in its sides toadmitlightthroughthesubmergingwater. The boat will be of coursewater-tight and be ballasted, so as to sink in the water. The entrancewill be by hatchway, the cover or hatch. fof which will be hinged to thecoaming f on the deck and provided with a packinggasket and meansfordrawing down the hatch and securing it on the inside. Preferably thisfastening device will be a pivoted harp, Fig. 7, on the inner face ofthe hatch adapted when the latter is down in place to be turned to bearon inclined bearers g on the inner margins of the hatch-coamings, sothat it will draw the hatch down snugly on the gasket.

In order to supply air or permit the passengers to leave the boat incase of an accident to the diving mechanism while the boat is submerged,the latter will have by pref- As here shown, this device is a tubeadaptedto slide in a packing ring or gasket about an aperture in thedeck of the boat and provided on its outer or upper end with a hingedhatch or cover 4" and means for securing the same similar to that forthe hatch f. As the deck of the boat need never be very much below thesurfacesay two feet as a maximumthe tube of the hatch need only be solong that when pushed upward to the full extent the cover 1" will beabove the water-level. When this is done, the cover r may be raised toadmit air.

Fig. 9 shows the under side of the telescoping hatch r and the means fordrawing itdown and securing it. About the upper end of the tube 0" is aflange s, which projects inward, and on this flange are the inclines sfor the pivoted arm 15 to bear on. As the flange s is circular, parts ofit are cut away at s, so as to permit the ends of the disengaged arm tto pass when the cover r is elevated. No mechanism has been shown forpushing the telescoping hatch upward, and it is thought such will not berequired; but my invention is not limited in this respect. If desired, alight ladder (not shown) may be set up to the hatch and the passengersbe taken out in that way.

In order that the cable may be stopped automatically as the boat reachesthe landingp1ace coming from either direction,the device illustrated inFigs. 4: and 5 may be employed. Mounted in or alongside of one of thetrack-rails, so that a wheel m of the boat will depress it, is aweighted lever a, which bears when depressed on one arm of a long lever'11, the other arm of which is coupled to an upright guided rod w. Inthe steam-pipe 50, which supplies the engine h, is a throttlevalve a2,provided with an operating crossarm 00'. The rod w takes under onebranch of this cross-arm, which branch will be depressed'when the steamis on. As the boat arrives at the landing-place where the lover a issituated, a wheel at thereof depresses said lever, rocks the long levero, and presses upward the rod to, thus raising the 'cross-arm 0: to alevel position and cutting off the steam. This stops the furtherprogress of the boat. The wheel m may pass over the lever to, and thusallow its weight to act on it and return it to its normal position. Instarting back again the engineer first shifts the reversing-gear andthen depresses the other branch of the cross-arm :20", thus opening thevalve to admit steam tothe engine. The boat moves back and around in theother direction, and on arriving at the landing-place from'the otherside it operates a lever device precisely like that before described toshut ol'1 the steam. This device comprises a weighted lever it at thetrack-rail, a long lever 1;, and an upright rod 10, which latter takesunder the depressed opposite branch of the'cross-arm m" and elevates it,thus shutting off the steam.

It will be understood that the boat d is mounted on wheels m merely thatit may be propelled or drawn more easily over or along the track; but Ido not limit myself to the use of wheels, as other means may be employedwhich will suftice to reduce the friction. It should be borne in mindthat being submerged the boat may be made to rest very lightly on thetrack and the water itself is a lubricant. The track as to its mainportion need not be level. It mayrise and fall or be undulating, forexample. By cable, also referring to the element or part 6, is meant anyflexible carrier-as a chain or wire, for example. Cable is the commondesignation of these devices, although they maynot always be cables,properly so called.

I am well aware that it is not broadly new to mount a submarine boat onwheels in order that it may move about over the oceanbottom, and I donot claim this. My device includes as an essential a submerged track orway on which the submergible water-tight boat travels always over apredetermined route in a special waterway. I am also well aware that ithas been proposed to place a railway-track under water and run on thesame a train of cars simulating a sea-serpent,

submerged that the boat-like vehicle, which is a water-tight inclosure,will be wholly submerged and hidden entirely from view. In fact myobject is to give to those in the boatlike vehicle the experience of atrip under the water. The wheeled vehicle is made to simulate asubmarine boat, although it is not in the true sense a boat, as it doesnot float in a liquid.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In a device forrecreation purposes, the combination with a submergible, water-tight,boat-like vehicle provided with wheels to run on a track, and means forpropelling said vehicle, of a track on which the latter runs, the majorportion of said track being submerged to such a depth as to whollysubmerge the vehicle running thereon, substantially as set forth.

2. In a device for recreation purposes, the combination with asubmergible, water-tight, boat-like vehicle provided with wheels to runon a track, and means for propelling said vehicle, of a closed, endlesstrack on which the latter runs, the major portion of said track beingsubmerged to such a depth as to Wholly submerge the vehicle runningthereon, substantially as set forth.

3. In a device for recreation purposes, the combination with asubmergible, water-tight, boat-like vehicle provided with wheels to runon a track, and means for propelling said vehicle, of a track on whichthe latter runs,- the major portion of said track being submerged tosuch a depth as to Wholly submerge the vehicle and being elevated at apoint inits length to form a landing-place whereat only the lower partof the vehicle is submerged, substantially as set forth.

4. In a device for recreation purposes, the combination with a submergedtrack, of a water-tight, submarine-boat-like vehicle mount ed on andadapted to travel along said track, a cable extending along said trackand-connected to said vehicle, and means for driving said cable.

5. In a device for recreation purposes, the combination with asubmergible, water-tight, boat-like vehicle provided with wheels to runon a track, and means for propelling the same along the track, of areceptacle to contain water of such. depth as to wholly submerge saidvehicle, and a track in said receptacle on which said submerged vehicleruns, substantially as set forth.

6. In a device for recreation purposes, the combination with asubmergible, water-tight, boat-like vehicle having wheels to run on atrack, and having an entrance in its top provided with a Water-tightcover, of a track on which said vehicle runs, the major portion of saidtrack being submerged to a depth sufficient to entirely submerge thesaid vehicle, and means for-propelling said vehicle on said track,substantially as set forth.

7. In a device for the purpose specified, the combination with a tracksubmerged in a Waterway and having an elevation at a point called thelanding-place, a water-tight, submarine-boat-like vehicle on said trackand movable therealong, means for moving the vehicle along said track,and automatic means at the landing-place and actuated by the ve= hicle,for stopping the same at that point.

8. In a device for the purpose specified, the combination with asubmerged track, a part of which is elevated and connected with the mainpart by inclines, of a water-tight submarine-boatlike vehicle mounted onand m'ov= able along said track, means for propelling said vehicle alongthe track, and automatic means actuated by the vehicle for stopping itat said elevated point.

9. In a device for the purpose specified, the combination with adeeply-submerged track, and a water-tight vehicle having the form of asubmarine boat, provided with Wheels so that it may run wholly submergedon said track, and means exterior .to the said vehicle for propelling italong said track, substantially as set forth.

7 In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name, this 19th day ofOctober, 1900, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN WILSON.

Witnesses:

HENRY CONNETT, PETER A. Ross.

